Matt M. Matthews joined the Combat Studies Institute (CSI) in July 2005 after working for 16 years as a member of the World Class Opposing Force (OPFOR) for the Battle Command Training Program at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Mr. Matthews graduated from Kansas State University in 1986 with a BS in History. He served as an Infantry enlisted man in the Regular Army from 1977 to 1981, a Cavalry officer in the US Army Reserve from 1983 to 1986, and an Armor officer in the Kansas Army National Guard from 1986 to 1991. Mr. Matthews is the author of CSI Press publications The Posse Comitatus Act and the United States Army: A Historical Perspective and Operation AL FAJR: A Study in Army and Marine Corps Joint Operations and The US Army on the Mexican Border: A Historical Perspective. He has coauthored numerous scholarly articles on the Civil War in the Trans-Mississippi, including “Shot All to Pieces: The Battle of Lone Jack,” “To Play a Bold Game: The Battle of Honey Springs,” and “Better Off in Hell: The Evolution of the Kansas Red Legs.” He is a frequent speaker at Civil War Roundtables, and he recently appeared on the History Channel as a historian for Bill Kurtis’ Investigating History. Mr. Matthews was the mayor of Ottawa, Kansas.